tree troubles
by lovelyrutabagas
Summary: Sakura climbs a tree and Hashirama waits with her for help.
PROMPT: you climbed your first tree but now you can't get down so i'm going to sit here with you up in this tree until someone arrives with a ladder

FROM: shittyaus

…

"Bet you can't climb that tree faster than me!" The small, pink-haired child crowed, a challenging grin on her face as she gazed up at Hashirama.

Hashirama could only laugh, his mind already imagining little Sakura struggling up the large tree, loudly boasting about how she'd beat him easily.

Sakura huffed at his laughter and began to speak heatedly, the flush in her cheeks worsening to a deep scarlet. He briefly entertained the thought of pouring water on her head before discarding the idea; chances were she would either cry and run to Tsunade for help or scream at him and run to Tobirama for revenge. Neither choice would end well for him.

As Hashirama mused how to cool Sakura down without invoking the wrath of his brother or granddaughter, said child was stewing on how to get the first Hokage's attention.

Sakura let out another huff, this one quieter than the first, and frowned unhappily to herself. All the other kids got to spend time with Lord First; why couldn't she? True, she hailed from a civilian clan, and, yes, she wasn't as physically fit as the _other_ kids, BUT she was loads smarter than the rest of them! She could totally get his attention AND keep it on her, easy-peasy.

Sakura nodded to herself and resolved to climb that stupid tree all on her own. That would show him! Grabbing a low hanging branch, the small girl pulled herself up and began climbing. It was difficult at first, grabbing at random and nearly falling as she failed to grab an actual branch. Then she started a pattern, looking at her feet and hand placement before moving ahead.

She was a little ways above Lord First's smiling face when she let out a squeaking laugh. She was climbing her first tree! It was a little scary but also exciting, and now Sakura had a whole new perspective of her beautiful village.

Hashirama shielded his eyes from the sun with his hand as he followed Sakura's path up the great oak with his eyes, planning what spot he would jump to in the tree without scaring Sakura.

Or… maybe scare her a little bit.

Maybe.

She was doing surprisingly well for someone of her stature. He had almost burst out in boisterous laughter when she started jumping for the lowest branch, and kept missing.

Hashirama suddenly wished that that Sai boy from ROOT was there to paint the scene. On one hand, it was hilarious and Tsunade would love it, but on the other hand he felt an immeasurable pride at this tiny civilian child who was willing to follow through on her declarations. No matter how ridiculous they were.

Deciding that Sakura had gone high enough, Hashirama yelled up at her.

"Sakura, maybe it's time to come down from there!"

Predictably enough, Sakura refused. And argued.

"No way! I'm gonna climb to the tip top of this tree and it's gonna be EPIC!"

"Sakura, it's going to get dark soon and you need to be home before then."

"Mama'll understand! Besides, I'm with the _first Hokage_ , nobody's dumb enough to try anything with you here!"

Her arguments weren't half-bad if one ignored the fact that they were coming from a four year old climbing the highest tree in Kohona and refusing to come down.

…

Hiding his grin, Hashirama waved for Madara to stand beside him.

The tall, dark-haired man looked at him apathetically, and then smirked smugly.

"It seems _someone_ is having difficulties with their charge," Madara stated coolly. "What do you want me to do, idiot?"

Hashirama tried to hold back from pouting at his childhood friend, really, he did, but…

"Hey! Quit looking at me like that!"

…he hadn't tried hard enough.

"Madara, old friend, can't you convince Sakura to climb down? She'll definitely listen to you! After all, you are Sasuke's… grandfather? Great uncle?" It was not meant to be, however, as Madara lost what little patience he had left and carried on to the Uchiha District with nary a 'goodbye' or 'drop dead' to his rival.

Letting out a sigh, Hashirama called out to Sakura. No reply or rustle from the branches above him.

Feeling a little put-out he gazed into the greenery and called again. This time, with his focus entirely on the noises Sakura could make, Hashirama heard her near silent whispers for help.

Jumping into the tree took no effort on his part and he soon found the branch Sakura was on.

Well, clutching, more like. With her cheek pressed into the rough bark, Sakura refused to part with her extra limb. No matter how much Hashirama pulled and cajoled, Sakura wouldn't budge.

Pulling and begging hadn't done the trick, so, he'd have to wait it out. She had been spending time with Tsunade and he was pretty sure Sakura had picked up that same monstrous strength. Even though he could heal whatever wound he received, Hashirama had very little desire to be on the receiving end of those punches.

So, Hashirama spoke to Sakura, even if she only sniffed in response.

"Well, I guess we have to wait here until help arrives, right?"

"It could be worse; it could be raining, you know!"

"Wow! It sure is dark out, Sakura! Why don't you look up at the stars with this old man while we wait?"

At this statement, Sakura finally moved her head and glowered at him. She was positive this wouldn't have happened if he had taken her seriously. Maybe if he had treated her like he treated everyone else, she wouldn't have gone ahead and climbed the stupid tree!

"You are pretty old; shouldn't you be tired of looking at the stars? Why don't you go home and I'll stay here."

Sakura's speech slowed as she stumbled across the one flaw in her plan. "Alone in my tree. In the dark." She clutched the tree branch tighter and heard the way it crunched under her grip. "Nevermind, you can stay."

…

Tobirama stood beneath the tree his older brother and the little civilian had gotten stuck in. The utter ridiculousness of the situation was not lost on him as he sighed heavily and glowered at the larger shape that was Hashirama. He was probably napping with the child, and that only made his next decision all the more sweet.

Turning away from the tree, Tobirama nodded to Tsunade and leapt away from the surrounding area. The moon was high in the night sky and he could tell that she wasn't happy with being woken up to get her grandfather and occasional student out of a _tree_ , of all things.

Tsunade thought of giving them a warning before she tore the tree out of the earth, but then decided that that wouldn't be as much fun as knocking a wood user out of a tree.

Circling the tree's trunk, she thought of the best place to start and then decided to just kick it down. Her leg snapped out at the trunk and Tsunade watched, satisfied, as it toppled to the ground with a resounding _BOOM!_ As the dust settled, Tsunade waited impatiently for Sakura and Hashirama to stop cowering in the dirt.

A sheepish laugh from beside her caused Tsunade to direct her surly gaze toward its owner. Though he looked a little dirty with his dusty clothes and scattered leaves in his hair, Hashirama managed to look even more pathetic than she thought possible. He wore a pleading expression, pouting at her and pointedly glancing down at the child clutching his vest.

Scoffing lightly, Tsunade removed Sakura from his shirt and set her down on wobbly legs. Expecting the girl to burst into tears or start screaming in rage, both Tsunade and Hashirama were surprised when she simply smiled at them.

It was a happy little thing that made her already adorable face look even cuter to the others in the clearing. Despite her dirty appearance and red rimmed eyes it suddenly clicked in their minds _why_ Sakura was the most beloved child in the Academy. She was brave, kind, and intelligent. Secretly, Tobirama thought she would make a fine shinobi one day, but chose to keep that thought to himself, knowing Tsunade would snap and punch _him_ instead of his brother.

Sakura closed her eyes and gave Hashirama a toothy grin, while rubbing the back of her neck, an unfortunate habit she'd picked up from her classmate, Naruto. "Thanks for staying with me all day Lord First! I had lots of fun, especially when Lady Tsunade knocked our tree down!" Sakura was practically bouncing in place as she recalled their day spent together. Her eyes snapped open and she turned on an unsuspecting Tobirama. "You're Lord Second, right? You're so cool! All those jutsus you made all on your own, they're absolutely amazing!"

Sakura continued on while the rest of them exchanged exasperated glances with each other. Finally, when Sakura started talking about Tobirama's hate of the Uchiha clan, Tsunade stepped in.

"All right, easy there, tiger. You can talk Tobirama's ear off some other time; right now we have to get you home to your parents before they call the cops." Tsunade commanded. "We'll be lucky if they just ground you. I don't have time for any lectures from your mother."

With a sly smile, Sakura gazed up at her Hokage with a mischievous look in her apple green eyes.

"Actually," she spoke, "I told mama I was allowed to stay with you, Lady Tsunade." Her grin had widened and she laughed. "So, can I?"

Dead silence reigned for an entire minute before Tobirama sighed in annoyance, said "not my problem", and then left. Hashirama attempted to do the same and was stopped by Tsunade's fist in his face.

"Since I'll be babysitting Sakura, _you_ can take care of my paperwork for the night." And with that, she walked off, a happy Sakura in tow.

Before they were out of earshot, Sakura shouted, "Goodnight, Lord First!"

Smiling to himself, Hashirama shouted back, "Goodnight, Sakura!"

Then he thought of all the paperwork waiting for him in the Hokage's office and he felt depression sinking in. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, though. He had a pretty eventful day and paperwork would help him unwind. Hopefully. At least Sakura didn't ruin his clothes like Naruto had the day before.

…

AN- this is iffy, I kinda like it and I kinda don't. so, review? tell me what you liked

an2- I redid it and added in some little details cuz it's been a while and I was bored and procrastinating on my other stories


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